Another War, A Different Master
by Suicide In A Bottle
Summary: Archer reflects on his feelings for his new master and the way he's been changed by her. Set during Fate/Extra.


A/N: So I came up with this somewhere during the time I was playing Fate/Extra and the time I lost it. -_-' Annyywaaay, yeah Archer/female protagonist. Btw, is anyone else throughly pissed with how weak they made her look? Cause I know I am.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fate/Extra. If I did you'd be able to customize your own character and Archer would end up with her or him. Whatever flaots your boat. X)

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><p>Another War, a Different Master.<p>

Another Holy Grail War that I have been called to fight in. Another chance for victory or defeat. The Magi I have been called to serve is lacking and anyone that bothers to glance at her can tell as much. Hmph, I doubt very seriously that we will even make it past the first round.

~'~

I was wrong. Hn, that's the first I can ever remember to admitting that. Not only have we made past the first round (that fool, Shinji got what he deserved), but we have progressed all the way to the semi-finals. And my master has grown, she is no longer the fumbling naive little school girl she once was. No, I have watched her as the War raged; she has blossomed and become a Magi worthy of a Servant such as myself.

I smirk whenever I glance at her now. She is confident and resilient, courageous and strong. She has come a long way since the beginning and worked very hard to become the person she is now. I am both amazed and somehow not; for a simple, ordinary human could hardly have summoned me.

She is breath-taking.

_She is beautiful._

_~'~_

It is the night of the Final round. Tomorrow we are to face the final opponent that stands in our way of victory and the Holy Grail. She is here with me, in our private room. I have grown very...fond of her, perhaps more. There is an emotion tied to this feeling of fondness that I cannot name. In my human day's I might have been able to place it now, however, its name is lost to me.

The question is asked before I can process the thought of asking. She looks at me in astonishment.

"Why would you ask a question like that?" she is confused and it is amusing.

I shrug. "Just a random thought," I respond easily.

She looks at me awhile longer before turning her head slightly. A few moments pass in silence. Finally she speaks a minute or two later.

"The feeling you described is what normally would be called love."

Her eyes are boring into mine and I, for some reason, feel as though I should look away. But I do not and we sit there. More silence passes and it feels as though everything everywhere has stopped. We are the only two people that exist at this moment. In this moment I wish I were a Caster class Servant, so that I may freeze us in this second, minute, hour, day, moment forever. I am lost in the deep chocolate brown of her eyes; she is moving to stand in front of me.

From the angle and way that I sit the faint moonlight cast a shimmering glow about the room. It envelopes her form as she approaches me; the sight is breathtaking in a way I am sure I never would have noticed before. We are still staring at each other and I can see myself reflected in her eyes, along with another emotion that takes me by surprise; love.

Could she…?

The thought is left unfinished as she moves forward her lips crashing into mine. I am shocked for half of a nanosecond before my hands weave themselves into hair the same chocolate brown as her eyes. It's amazing that this girl, no woman, could have changed me at all; but she has. Her lips are soft and pliant against mine as we move together. I run my tongue over her bottom lip, she gasps and my tongue surges forward into her mouth. She tastes of caramel and something light and airy and sweet.

All of my senses are overwhelmed and drowning in her; the feeling is too intense for words. Delicate hands find their way to my hair as I deepen the kiss even more crushing our bodies together in a need to feel all of her against me; it's almost like I can't get enough of her. My master, the one I've sworn to protect no matter what the cost, even if my life must be sacrificed for hers, it will be willingly and without hesitation.

The need for air becomes too much and I break the kiss, we are both panting hard and she flushed, eyes slightly glazed with want.

I want her and she knows it...but should we?

"Master, I do not believe we should take this any further than we already have or I may not be able to control myself." My voice is a little rougher than normal and laced with a need that I have not felt in a long time.

She smiles and it is sweet and innocent and...pure. Despite the blood she has had to shed, no, the blood that I have shed for her; she is still pure and innocent as the first snow in winter.

"I agree, Shirou, we should not." The use of my real name sends a pleasant shiver through me. No one has ever called me by that name since...I became Archer. She kisses me again, softer this time, then lays her head against my heart. I hold her close and can feel as her breathing evens out as she drifts to sleep. I love the woman in my arms, this small but not so fragile yet innocent woman that has put her life in my hands.

I know we will be victorious tomorrow, I will not allow all of our hard work to go waste, nor will I allow her to killed or allow myself to fail in keeping her safe. She has somehow become everything that I ever thought was important and I am not sure how she's done it. What I do know is that I am ready for what tomorrow brings, even though I also know that it will be the last time I ever see her. I am realist after all and I know that we as servant and master could never truly be together, but this one and only time; I wish that we could be.

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><p>AN 2: I've decided to make a sequel to this. So, watch out for that.


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